Contesting Authority
The well-being of a society is enhanced when many of its people question authority.
Originated from Ancient Greece, modern civilization tends to glorify democracy over authoritarianism. Thus, people are drawn to express their opinion about the way their rulers lead their societies. While questioning authority could be regarded as confusing and dangerous for a country’s stability, conscious authority questioning improves significantly government’s policies and then, people’s welfare.
North Korea is one of the most isolated nations in the world. The President Kim Jong Hil, then his son, leads this country with authority. Nobody is allowed to make any complain. As a result, North Korean economy experiences important woes impacting negatively all sectors of the society. Bad or no equipped hospitals, unemployment, hunger, poor education are among the difficulties North Koreans face daily. This situation occurs since Korean government appropriates a large fund to their military program, notably uranium enrichment, over people’s welfare. Since this population cannot question their government’s policies at the risk of being put in jail, their welfare cannot be improved.
On the other hand, western societies such as those of Western Europe and North America are paradigm of democracy. Not only is the government contested by the congress or the senate but also by the myriad of polls performed by independent agencies about important decisions pertaining to national issues. Before the last presidential elections in the United States, polls indicated that many American were concerned about the lasting American debt and the important spending of the federal government. Therefore, just after the elections, the government has been coerced to apply the automatic cut in order to reduce this debt. In this case, people have been able to influence a policy by expressing their opinion about an important issue concerning their welfare. This kind of situations can benefit to
Originated from Ancient Greece, modern civilization tends to glorify democracy over authoritarianism. Thus, people are drawn to express their opinion about the way their rulers lead their societies. While questioning authority could be regarded as confusing and dangerous for a country’s stability, conscious authority questioning improves significantly government’s policies and then, people’s welfare.
North Korea is one of the most isolated nations in the world. The President Kim Jong Hil, then his son, leads this country with authority. Nobody is allowed to make any complain. As a result, North Korean economy experiences important woes impacting negatively all sectors of the society. Bad or no equipped hospitals, unemployment, hunger, poor education are among the difficulties North Koreans face daily. This situation occurs since Korean government appropriates a large fund to their military program, notably uranium enrichment, over people’s welfare. Since this population cannot question their government’s policies at the risk of being put in jail, their welfare cannot be improved.
On the other hand, western societies such as those of Western Europe and North America are paradigm of democracy. Not only is the government contested by the congress or the senate but also by the myriad of polls performed by independent agencies about important decisions pertaining to national issues. Before the last presidential elections in the United States, polls indicated that many American were concerned about the lasting American debt and the important spending of the federal government. Therefore, just after the elections, the government has been coerced to apply the automatic cut in order to reduce this debt. In this case, people have been able to influence a policy by expressing their opinion about an important issue concerning their welfare. This kind of situations can benefit to